Sports (diving) question...

[lindberg99]

My son is 11 and took a springboard diving class this summer at our local Y. He really loved it! But the young woman who taught the classes is now going back to college and there don't seem to be any plans to continue lessons over the winter. 

I looked around to see if any other pools offer diving classes and found one that does. It is maybe 45 - 60 min away. DS would go once a week for a 2 hour class. I don't mind driving him up there once a week (I could go to the great natural foods store during his lesson) but the problem is practice time. The swim team at the Y is starting soon and they have a lot of kids so use the whole part of the pool where the boards are from after school until the pool closes. The boards are always open on Sundays but the pool doesn't start Sunday hours until November. They might be open for a time on Saturdays, it depends on lessons and if there is a swim meet or not. So he probably could practice once during most weeks.

Is it worth it to take classes if he really can't practice much? The other pool probably has some open diving practice times but I'm just not sure of the feasibility of getting him up there more than once a week.

Maybe I should have him do gymnastics over the winter and he could just dive in the summers? What do you think you would do if this was your son?

[Linda on the move]

For me, it would depend on how much he liked it and how much else I had going on. I used to drive my kids 35 min each way for a swim team practice 4 or 5 nights a week, so it doesn't seem crazy to me. The team also involved weekend long swim meets about once a month. It was really wonderful for them. I don't have any regrets. The way I see it, we only have a short time to do these things for them.

I suspect that a lot of kids who are diving don't get much practice time because pool time in the winter is TIGHT everywhere.

Gymnastics as his practice time sounds like a great idea to go along with diving.

I would check into how much else the diving involves -- if it competitive, how far they travel to compete, etc.

Neither of my kids are interested in diving -- if they were, I would encourage it.

[kathymuggle]

If he loved it i would drive the 45-60 minutes.  The lack of practice time does not bother me (hopefully it will not bother him too much).  I don't think things have to be all or nothing.  If he really gets into competitive diving, you can address the issue then.

[lindberg99]

The pool said he can come and do a free trial class so we are going up there tonight. I also found another pool that is a bit closer and has diving classes and am waiting on them to call me back with info.

I'm going to ask about practicing. That is true, probably most kids can't get much practice in due to pools being busy with swim team.

Sometimes I just overthink stuff. Probably because one of my friends told me she thought I would be crazy to drive DS up there. Of course, I think she is crazy because she said she wants to put her daughters on a "low dose of estrogen" during swim season (which is what, 10 months of the year?) once they start their periods to make the flow lighter so they won't have to deal with it in the pool. So I guess we are even on thinking each other is crazy! 

[lifeguard]

I worked at a pool with a very successful diving program - the kids rarely came in to practice outside of their structured practice times. It's probably not an issue. Plus - you will likely find there is actually a fair bit of dry activity that he can practice at home.

[FarmerBeth]

Originally Posted by lindberg99 

The pool said he can come and do a free trial class so we are going up there tonight. I also found another pool that is a bit closer and has diving classes and am waiting on them to call me back with info.

I'm going to ask about practicing. That is true, probably most kids can't get much practice in due to pools being busy with swim team.

Sometimes I just overthink stuff. Probably because one of my friends told me she thought I would be crazy to drive DS up there. Of course, I think she is crazy because she said she wants to put her daughters on a "low dose of estrogen" during swim season (which is what, 10 months of the year?) once they start their periods to make the flow lighter so they won't have to deal with it in the pool. So I guess we are even on thinking each other is crazy! 

I don't think you're crazy at all.  Rural parents have to do "crazy" driving all the time.  Some of us have schools an hour away.  Half the "local" hockey team has an hour drive.  Many, many kids where we live are in horseback riding and many travel at least an hour, diddo for swimming.  If you live somewhere where driving is not as extreme, then it comes down to your children's enjoyment and your enjoyment in supporting them.  You can always fit in an activity nearby the lessons, like the natural foods store you mentioned, or visit another store or a library, or even catch up on some reading or knit at a nearby coffee shop.

And I think the gymnastics idea you had is very complimentary to diving.  Especially tumbling and trampoline.

[lindberg99]

We went up there tonight and he really liked it. They did an hour of dryland (trampoline, etc) followed by an hour in the pool and he seemed to like both. There were 4 other kids and they all seemed very friendly. At the end, the instructor let them have a couple of free jumps and DS went off the 5M platform with the rest of the kids (which almost gave me a heart attack, I would never even climb up there!!) The pool is shutting down for a couple weeks in Sept and I think the season sort of "officially" starts Sept 19. So that should give me some time to think about whether we should do it or not. It is a month by month thing so it's not like we have to commit to a full year or anything.

My friends do stuff I think is crazy all the time so I guess if they think we are crazy, we will all be crazy together!

[FarmerBeth]

Sounds like fun!  I think the take it as you go attitude will help you work it out.

[JayGee]

I'm glad you found something!  My son dove for two summers and loved it, but we moved and there is NO diving facility within 2 hours of our home, so he switched to gymnastics.  Now he's been selected for the trampoline and tumbling team at our gym.  He still loves to dive when we find ourselves in a pool with a board, but those seem to be few and far between here.

Good luck to your DS and I also second the recommendation for gymnastics/trampoline as dryland when he can't get to the pool.

[Linda on the move]

Sounds like you've got yourself a natural diver! Cool!

If you can swing it, I'd would go for it! I think that adolescence goes a little smoother for kids who have things to do that are hard work and yet that they love.